1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to padding devices designed to protect the human body. The invention is particularly directed towards knee and ankle padding used to prevent inner leg skin irritation prevalent to bed ridden and physically impaired patients.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many people suffer from inner leg skin irritation due to a variety of causes, the most common being pressure sores suffered by bed-ridden elderly people and paralytic patients, especially when they are positioned on their side while sleeping. Limited mobility, poor circulation and overall poor skin condition contribute to skin breakdown simply from the weight and movement of one leg upon the other, particularly if that person is very thin and emaciated. Quite a few patients confined to convalescent hospitals and nursing homes experience inner leg skin irritation, especially those with limited mobility suffering from muscle contractures. The current accepted preventative procedure is to position bed pillows between the legs as protective padding, however displacement is always a constant problem due to movement of the patient. Others not residing in nursing homes who have a problem with frictional irritation of the inner knees can benefit from my invention, a padded device which is simple and easy to apply and which can be worn while walking, sitting or sleeping.
A wide variety of devices for applying padding to the human body are seen in the market place. Some are designed to prevent skin irritation and injury to the wearer, but the majority are provided in the form of protective sports shields primarily to protect the shin and not the inner knee and ankle area. A search was conducted at the U. S. Patent Office to see protective leg guards in general, and the past art patents produced were provided from the following classes and subclasses:
2/22, 59 and 36/2.
The following patents represented devices most pertinent to my invention:
1. Hart was issued U.S. Pat. No. 1,158,208, on Oct. 26, 1915, for an "Athletic Guard".
2. U.S. Pat. No. 2,338,424, was granted to Giardini on Jan. 4, 1944, for a "Limb Guard".
3. On Sept. 13, 1955, McMahan was issued Pat. No. 2,717,387, for a "Shin and Foot Guard".
4. Kremp was issued Pat. No. 3,533,106, on Oct. 13, 1970, for "Article for Protecting the Human Body Against Impacts".
5. On Dec. 11, 1979, Griffin was issued Pat. No. 4,177,806, for a "Knee Pillow".
6. U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,070, was granted to Cho on Feb. 5, 1985, for "Unitary Leg and Foot Protective Device".
7. Winer was issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,562, on May 19, 1987, for "Leg Protecting Apparatus".
Several of the past art patents disclosed pads designed for protective sports wear devised to shield a specific body part from an impact injury of some sort. These devices are therefore structured of stiff and nonresilient materials directed towards impact protection which would themselves cause pressure sores and irritation if worn for an extended period of time. Specific devices include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,533,106, 2,727,387, and 2,338,424.
Some of the past art devices, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,727,387, and 2,338,424, are structured to provide protection for an area of the leg other than the inner knee and ankle. They would be completely impractical if applied to the inner knee due to the structure and shape of their desgin and the firm non-resilient materials of which they are manufactured.
Several of the patents produced in the search provided devices which could be utilized as knee or ankle padding but are not designed to do both simultaneously. The Hart patent, U.S. Pat. No. 1,158,208, the Winer patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,562, the Cho patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,070, and the Griffin patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,806, show devices not long enough to cover both knee and ankle simultaneously. The Griffin device is also curved so as to be applied to a bent knee only and could not be easily worn while sitting or walking. The Cho patent is only designed to protect the front and sides of the leg and top of the foot and not the inner knee. The foot covering and attachment straps would make the device too time consuming to apply and the thin string attachments would prove restrictive to circulation.
One final major disadvantage of all the past art devices is the use of straps as the connecting means. Since a majority of people targeted for this type of leg protection are easily susceptible to skin irritation, the thin, narrow unpadded ties and straps provided in the past art devices can themselves cause excessive pressure and abrasion. Many of the people I have designed my invention for are debilitated and have poor circulation to begin with, and application of the past art devices could conceivably restrict blood circulation or cause decubitus ulcers. None of the devices provided in the search supplied padded attachment straps or padded ties, nor was the harmful effects of using unpadded attachment straps on debilitated people considered.
I therefore feel that none of the afore mentioned devices could be substituted in whole or in combinations for my device and produce the full scope of benefits and advantages provided by my invention.